...but we're not exclusive...

One of the publishers I work with only contracts short stories for a period of one year. Makes sense, actually. Sales of short fiction tends to drop off pretty soon after release. If you ever feel like there's a deluge of short fiction out there, that's probably why.

When my rights came back to me, I figured I'd self-publish those shorts. I only had an account with Amazon at that time, so I only uploaded them to Amazon. For a long while, we were exclusive.

But not anymore!

It no longer seems beneficial to put all my eggs in Amazon's basket, so I've started the slow process of teasing them out and making them available at other retailers.

The stories we're talking about, here, are the ones that comprise my short fiction anthology Rainbow Crush. So if you own Rainbow Crush, you own these stories. And thanks!

If you prefer to pick and choose, buying your shorts as individual ebooks, then I've got good news for you. Actually, I've got links where you can purchase some shorts. I've also got links to short fiction at subscription places like Oyster and Scribd. So if you have accounts there, give my shorts a read! Doesn't cost you anything.

Here are some ebooks that are no longer exclusive to Amazon:

Happy Birthday, Klutzface!
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1025661806
https://www.scribd.com/book/273358998/Happy-Birthday-Klutzface-A-Lesbian-Comedy-for-Teens
https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/pfYRB8FBZmxy8ucQpELmsm/happy-birthday-klutzface-a-lesbian-comedy-for-teens
https://store.kobobooks.com/ebook/happy-birthday-klutzface-a-lesbian-comedy-for-teens
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/happy-birthday-klutzface-a-lesbian-comedy-for-teens-foxglove-lee/1122450027

I Know What Gay Is
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/i-know-what-gay-is-foxglove-lee/1122492289
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1028873945
https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/uk5sZuYRDAhXtq4sgEiY4/i-know-what-gay-is-short-fiction-for-teens
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/i-know-what-gay-is-short-fiction-for-teens
https://www.scribd.com/book/273933865/I-Know-What-Gay-Is-Short-Fiction-for-Teens

Dress Like a Dude
http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dress-like-a-dude-foxglove-lee/1122402798
https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id1023252837
https://www.oysterbooks.com/book/BvDMvwVGd5FDR6UnQZegWb/dress-like-a-dude
https://www.scribd.com/book/272683986/Dress-Like-A-Dude
https://store.kobobooks.com/en-CA/ebook/dress-like-a-dude

Free Ebooks, USA Today Review, Large Print Sylvie & Oh-So-Many Things To Do

Remember that Kids in the Hall sketch, Things To Do? That's kind of how I feel every time I sit down to write a blog post. I go so long between them that I always have seven things to tell you. Or, in this case, three things:

Thing 1:

Truth and Other Lies was reviewed by USA Today!

Here's the link: http://www.usatoday.com/story/happyeverafter/2015/03/30/michelle-monkou-ya-recs-albertalli-walker-lee-stevenson/70689590/

Wow, do I ever feel like a real-life professional author now!

Thing 2:

Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost is now available as a Large Print book. It's available right now from CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/5457443 and should be rolling out across Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and other retail channels very soon.

Hint if you like ebooks: you can now read Sylvie for FREE! Pick up a copy from Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Kobo... where else?  Google Play. Go for it.

Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QJLBFUS
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost-foxglove-lee/1120851731
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id947735485
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/249006634/Sylvie-and-the-Christmas-Ghost
Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/c380355f-ad0b-41be-9ee4-b81896a4b523

Q: What's better than a free ebook?

A: TWO free ebooks!

Thing 3:

Dress Like A Dude

A short story by Foxglove Lee

...will be FREE at Amazon April 28th-May 2nd, 2015...

What's going on in front of the school? 

 
When Mila and Laura get back from lunch, there's a big student protest going on. Signs and placards say "Guys Shouldn't Wear Girl Clothes" and "Dress Like A Dude." Turns out a new student doesn't believe in gender-conformity. He’s a Goth guy who wears whatever he wants, including skirts. This ninth grader's got guts!

Mila and Laura have been dating since last school year and they haven't even kissed in public. Will this young student who isn't afraid of anyone inspire them to come out, or will other kids' reactions drive them deeper into the closet?

LGBTQ fiction from the author of Tiffany and Tiger’s Eye & Truth and Other Lies!

***
Foxglove Lee is a former aspiring Broadway Baby who now writes queer fiction for teens and young adults. She tries not to be too theatrical, but her characters often take over. When you’re done with her short story collection Rainbow Crush, grab her novel Tiffany and Tiger’s Eye—it’s set in the 80s and there’s an evil doll! What more could a reader ask for? Follow Foxglove on Twitter @foxglovelee or stay tuned to her blog foxglovelee.blogspot.com for more!

Grab a copy on me, April 28-May 2nd!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZDHIIA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OZDHIIA
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00OZDHIIA

...and in case you've never seen that Kids in the Hall sketch I mentioned earlier (caution: comedy violence)...

Happy Valentine's Day! You're Getting A Free Book!

I promised you a great gift for Valentine's Day, and here it is: for a limited time only, you can grab a copy of Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost absolutely FREE at certain retailers.

Is it weird to give a Christmas ebook as a V-Day gift? Yeah, probably, but oh well. 

Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost was written for younger young adults (the main character is 14), but I write books that keep me entertained as an adult, so I recommend it for all ages. It's set in 1994, so blast from the past if you grew up in the nineties! (Or if you were alive in the nineties!) And if you weren't... we didn't have cell phones then. Well, I didn't. I think they existed, but only hotshots had them. 

Here's me going blah-blah-blah when all you're really interested in is where you can get this fabulous book at this fabulous price. (Although, if you want to hear more of my blah-blah-blah about the book, read my post about it: http://foxglovelee.blogspot.ca/2014/12/what-do-seinfeld-show-boat-and-that-70s.html )

If you just want your free book with no fuss, here's where to go:
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost-foxglove-lee/1120851731
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id947735485
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost

Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/c380355f-ad0b-41be-9ee4-b81896a4b523

You can also buy Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost IN PRINT from Createspace, but it's not free (sorry!): https://www.createspace.com/5147425

Rainbow Crush: Large Print and New Retailers!

Have you been craving Rainbow Crush, but you can't (or don't want to) buy stuff from Amazon? Well, good news! Now you can get my lighthearted LGBT short story collection at a whole bunch of new retailers!

Here are links:

Barnes and Noble: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/rainbow-crush-foxglove-lee/1120373309?ean=9781502393890

Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/rainbow-crush-light-hearted-lgbt-fiction-for-teens
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id953285170

Are you a Scribd subscriber? You can read it there too: https://www.scribd.com/book/250499451/Rainbow-Crush-Light-Hearted-LGBT-Fiction-for-Teens

If you are an Amazon shopper, don't worry--Rainbow Crush is still available there.
Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00NPOJA7C?ie&tag=foxglovelee-20
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00NPOJA7C

You can also get it in print from CreateSpace: https://www.createspace.com/5002133

Guess what else? If you're a paperback lover and you want or need your books in large print, Rainbow Crush is now available just the way you like it! Grab it right here: https://www.createspace.com/5202466

I'm going to have some great news for Valentine's Day, so stay tuned. (I can't wait to tell you! I want to tell you right now! But I can wait... I can wait... okay, see you later this week.)

What do Seinfeld, Show Boat and That 70s Show all have in common?

Big news! I've written my third full-length book just in time for the holidays.  It's called Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost and it's now available as an ebook and in print.

If you've read the blurb, the first thing you probably noticed was that Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost is set in 1994.  Why 1994, you ask?  Well, I think I got that idea when I was watching an episode of Seinfeld. Maybe you've had this experience too.  You look at the date the episode came out and go: "1994, oh yeah, that was 5 years ago... 10 years ago... wait, that was 20 years ago?"  And then you wonder what you've been doing for the past 20 years.

Around the same time, I was helping my mother clean her basement (a never-ending task) and I came across a hatbox containing all the programs I'd kept from the musicals I saw in the late 80s and early 90s.  I flipped through the one from Show Boat (which I wanted to show you, but seem to have temporarily misplaced) and nearly did a back flip when I spotted Cloris Leachman listed among the cast.  Apparently, in the mid-90s, I didn't know who she was because it didn't make a dent on my memory. Anyway, you'll notice, when you read the book, that Show Boat is woven into one scene.

Aside from all that, 1994 is kind of the year of my existence I'm always writing for.  When I wrote Tiffany and Tiger's Eye, I was writing it for ME at that age, but I set Tiff/Tiger in 1986.  The 90s just didn't seem distant enough. But now, considering 1994 was 20 years ago, I figured maybe it had reached retro status. A fourteen-year old reading Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost wouldn't have been born in 1994.  Heck, an

18-year-old wouldn't have been. It's like my experience with That 70s Show.  If memory serves, the first season was set in 1978? (yeah, that's a question because I'm not going to bother looking it up right now). I wasn't alive in 1978, so when I watched that show some things felt familiar and close-at-hand (I grew up wearing clothes like that) and other things felt retro and recent-history-ish. Hopefully younger people will have that experience with Sylvie.

Though my main character in this book is 14, I enjoyed reading it as an adult.  And you're probably thinking, "I HOPE you enjoyed it--you wrote the book, after all," but let me tell you: by the final proofing stage you've read your own book so many times you usually want to burn the manuscript (which is hard to do when it's a computer file). With Sylvie, I LOVED the book the whole way through. My editor enjoyed it too, and that's a compliment I really appreciated.  Editors don't always express a level of like or dislike for any given manuscript.

So now it's your turn.  If you're in the Christmas spirit, grab a copy of Sylvie and the Christmas Ghost from one of the retailers below:


Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00QJLBFUS
Amazon Canada: http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00QJLBFUS
Amazon UK: http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00QJLBFUS
B&N: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost-foxglove-lee/1120851731
iTunes: https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/id947735485
Kobo: http://store.kobobooks.com/en-US/ebook/sylvie-and-the-christmas-ghost
Scribd: https://www.scribd.com/book/249006634/Sylvie-and-the-Christmas-Ghost
Inktera: http://www.inktera.com/store/title/c380355f-ad0b-41be-9ee4-b81896a4b523

IN PRINT from Createspace: https://www.createspace.com/5147425

UPDATE: The print version has popped up on Amazon here: http://www.amazon.com/Sylvie-Christmas-Ghost-Foxglove-Lee/dp/1505351774/ref=foxglovelee-20 but it doesn't seem to be hooked up with the e-book yet. They're both there, but in different places.

Dress Like A Dude

If you've read my short story collection Rainbow Crush, then you've already encountered Dress Like A Dude. It was first published in that book, and now it's available on its own as an ebook, exclusively from Amazon. If you'd like to read Dress Like A Dude, it's available FREE from Amazon November 1-5, 2014.

 Dress Like A Dude

A short story by Foxglove Lee

What's going on in front of the school? 

 
When Mila and Laura get back from lunch, there's a big student protest going on. Signs and placards say "Guys Shouldn't Wear Girl Clothes" and "Dress Like A Dude." Turns out a new student doesn't believe in gender-conformity. He’s a Goth guy who wears whatever he wants, including skirts. This ninth grader's got guts!

 

Mila and Laura have been dating since last school year and they haven't even kissed in public. Will this young student who isn't afraid of anyone inspire them to come out, or will other kids' reactions drive them deeper into the closet?

 

LGBTQ fiction from the author of Tiffany and Tiger’s Eye & Truth and Other Lies!

***
Foxglove Lee is a former aspiring Broadway Baby who now writes queer fiction for teens and young adults. She tries not to be too theatrical, but her characters often take over. When you’re done with her short story collection Rainbow Crush, grab her novel Tiffany and Tiger’s Eye—it’s set in the 80s and there’s an evil doll! What more could a reader ask for? Follow Foxglove on Twitter @foxglovelee or stay tuned to her blog foxglovelee.blogspot.com for more!

Dress Like A Dude is FREE at Amazon from November 1st through 5th. Grab a copy on me!

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00OZDHIIA
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00OZDHIIA
http://www.amazon.ca/dp/B00OZDHIIA

The Robber

I've got a lot of explaining to do.

Not in a bad way. I just want to tell you a little about the new short story I have on the market.  It's called The Robber and, leading up to the release of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Inner Strength (which includes an intense little story from my life), The Robber is available as a FREE download at Amazon.

So where does the explaining come in? Well, here's the thing: I wouldn't exactly classify The Robber as Young Adult fiction, like the rest of my books.  Although the protagonist is ten years old (it's her birthday in the story), I feel the story is better classified as literary fiction for adults.  It's not that there's anything specifically "adult" or offensive in terms of the content (aside from harsh language and distressing situations), but I still wanted to put a bit of a content warning out into the world.

Why the tie-in with this new Chicken Soup for the Soul book? (which you can pre-order here, by the way: http://www.amazon.com/Chicken-Soup-Soul-Empowering-Resilience-ebook/dp/B00IWTWFYK/ref=foxglovelee-20 )

Because while The Robber is a fictionalized version of events from my young life, my story It Takes A Village in CSS Find Your Inner Strength is a true story from roughly the same era. They both deal with substance abuse and family violence.

The Robber will be free at all Amazon sites starting today and ending on the release day of Chicken Soup for the Soul: Find Your Inner Strength, which is October 28th.

You can find The Robber at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODBV4AM
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ODBV4AM
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00ODBV4AM

Literary short fiction from the author of Tiffany and Tiger's Eye:

Samantha’s celebrating her tenth birthday, but turning “double digits” isn’t all it’s cracked up to be. Her special day is dampened not only by her mom burning the chicken fingers and making her go to Girl Guides, but also by the fact that she knows "the robber" will be coming later that night. After all, birthday cards mean birthday money, and birthday money is sure to attract him.

Sam and her younger sister Tory have tried for years to find the perfect hiding spot, but the robber always finds any bits of cash tucked away in their underwear drawers, or in the pyjama doll, or the hollow base of the ugly ceramic unicorn from Grandma Macintyre. It's only a matter of time before the robber arrives at Samantha’s bedroom door.

Not every horror story is supernatural…

You can find The Robber at http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00ODBV4AM
http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/B00ODBV4AM
http://www.amazon.ca/gp/product/B00ODBV4AM